Knitting While Sleeping

The Fringe Festival tends to offer some weird options which turn out to be either awful or awesome. Knitting While Sleeping is of the latter variety.

Warning: contains audience participation. I was anxious before the show started. I hate audience participation. Please, please, don't pick me. They didn't. Then I was anxious for the people on stage - would the dancers step on them?

It seemed a little like you and your friends got drunk and decided to dance, while having a pillow fight. Except that, unlike you and your friends, they can dance, in unison. Feathers fell like snow. Dancers birthed from each other then intertwined like jealous lovers. Finally the pressure is too much and one dancer has a complete mental breakdown on stage. There is also a chicken.

From anxiety to hysterics of laughter to thoughts of "what the hell will they do next?" this performance piece takes you through everything. It's only got a short season so go see it while you can.

Performances: 24-27 February, 9pm
Tickets: $18

Putting the G'Day in Cabaret

10pm on a Wednesday night (I have been known to refer to this as a "school night") would normally find me either in bed or preparing for it. Last night I didn't get to bed till 11:30pm which, if you knew me you'd know, is pretty impressive. It was my first foray into the Fringe Festival this year appropriately held at the Fringe Bar.

What would a real Aussie bloke think of cabaret? What would a former-kiwi-turned-Australian woman pretending to be an Aussie bloke think of cabaret? That pretty much sums up the show. Thank you and good night!

I was tired and part of me was wondering why I agreed to be there, so much so that I appreciated the apologies from the performer about "technical difficulties." Ah, but then the techie came on stage and it was beautiful. Who knew you could get leather jackets that lit up? A true bogan mocking burlesque was genius and I was happy I turned up.

Joana Simmons is multi talented - actress, signer, comedian, dancer and I'm reasonably sure she wrote and choreographed the whole thing too. After the bogan came a diva, a hipster, a reporter and another Australian character. It seemed that every form of comedy was brought in from puns to physical and making the stage hand uncomfortable to making the audience uncomfortable.

The highlight for me was the first dance. Some of the other sketches seemed to last a little long (yes, yes, we get the joke). It's a shame the show isn't at a more hospitable time but I think it's worth losing a little sleep over.

Shows: 17-20 February, 10pm
Venue: The Fringe Bar, Allen St
Tickets: $17

Extraordinary Tales of Strength and Daring

Tacked onto the end of Webstock (a two day party conference for those who work in the webspace) is Extraordinary Tales of Strength and Daring an afternoon of talks which, as far as I could tell, was by women for women. The candles and floral theme should have tipped me off.

As the proceeds go to Women's Refuge and Rape Crisis I had expected harrowing tales focused on overcoming men ruining their lives. Another attendee had expected a feminist or political slant around current issues. Their friend had expected tales of lived experiences as a woman, from everyday women. It was none of those things though the last was touched on necessarily by each speaker and especially by Zelda Edwards. None of us had expected the event to feel so sanitised. I identified with the first two speakers but these two attendees discussed leaving during the break, but were glad they didn't as the second half was well worth staying for.

Cindy Gallop is a force of nature. Natasha, the organiser, confessed she wanted to keep Cindy in a cupboard and bring her out whenever inspiration was required. No cupboard would hold Cindy in my opinion though I wanted to take her home too. Her talk can be summed up: wear what you want, date who and how you want, say what you want (I cleaned up the language a bit). This self affirming talk was followed by Zelda Edwards former superwoman trying to be everything to everyone who changed tacks completely to become a zumba instructor. I could have heard more from her. I did wish we were in a different space so that everyone could have joined in the dance she led.

My expectations were not met but I ended up having a great time. It was a little like a women's TED gathering but with less messages being conveyed. I wish all speakers had been as good as the last two but had these two not completely overshadowed the others I still would have enjoyed myself.

A Christmas Karel Čapek

Are you a robots fan? Want to save the world or at least a part of it? Are you a Grinch? Do you like
Charles Dickens? Do you know who Karel Capek is? Do you simply like attending Bats Theatre for an
intimate show? Do you like people who are able to laugh at themselves?

If you answered yes to at least one of the above (surely?), then you will walk away from A Christmas Karel Capek feeling pleased you got to see this one off Christmas production by the multi award winning Wellington based theatre company The Bacchanals. They are known for their ‘liberal whining’ and being ‘very angry and political’ but have stepped back from their usual approach with this story. They deliver  a humorous, clever, futuristic take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol set in a present day Wellington Cuba St flat – with old second hand furniture that looks like it's from the local Sallys and a heap of posters of theatre productions (past plays by the The Bacchanals).

The play starts with a warm and funny introduction from David Lawrence and Brianne Kerr – who also greet you as you walk into the theatre. David proclaims to the audience that the Bacchanels are “giving you what you really want for Christmas: a Christmas show featuring Christmas and robots, performed by a combination of humans and robots!” From the get go, you know this is going to be a quirky 90 minutes.

David and Brianne play… David and Brianne. David is ‘bah humbug’ about Christmas, to overcome his misanthropy he invents a robot. Initially he presents this to Brianne as a gift. An attractive, ‘WOW looking’ female robot that cooks, vacuums, makes banana smoothies, coffee and does as she is told. At first Brianne is excited by the robot then she recognises the robot is not only for David's ‘personal selfish gain’. This enthusiasm gives way to the realisation that robots could help humanity and do things humans cannot do  easily, i.e. going to the moon, helping the world to be more sustainable and also saving endangered Pandas… Along with these thought provoking suggestions by Brianne for the audience to consider, there are clever, well thought out, quirky points. For instance, Brianne describes how the mass manufacture of robots would mean less people working, therefore less people doing awful shitty jobs, therefore less people drinking coffee (to get them through the day) and thus would reduce third world problems in coffee production!

Will the robots achieve what Brianne and David created them for?  Whether you agree with the ideas posed, or think the plot is too far fetched, you will be challenged and laughing at what the characters say and come up with.

Brianne, David and the robots are not the only characters; a panda makes an appearance, a Welshman and even a Galek. A stand out character, my personal favourite, is the narrator played by Salesi Le’ota. Le’ota plays Ghosts of Christmas Past and St Nick. He has some of the coolest moments and funniest lines in the show – ‘No Ho Ho’ did not go unnoticed, simple, yet very funny.

Set in the brilliant, intimate, exposed, Bats Theatre, A Christmas Karel Capek is worth checking out. From the small things like the smell of curry cooking, to the great, ‘feel good’ musical number at the end AND of course the clever, witty and quirky lines from the characters, A Christmas Karel Capek should be the one thing to check off your Christmas list this year.


Propeller Stage, BATS Theatre, 1 Kent Terrace
4–19 December, 7pm
Tickets: $20.00/ $15.00

Richter City vs Swamp City Roller Rats

Last weekend the Swamp City Roller Rats from Palmerston North met Richter City All Stars at the Kilbirnie Recreation Centre. The early start time may have contributed to the smaller than usual audience. Those that were there were enthusiastic.

Due to a problem with the printers there were no programs available which made it difficult to follow who players were. Most of the Swamp City players skated under their own names rather than a derby handle, which added to confusion when their uniforms displayed their handles. Wellington audiences would recognise Terror Satana and Mack formerly of Pirate City Rollers. Another former Pirates player that was anticipated (by us) to make an appearance, Skate the Muss, was absent.

Based on our knowledge of the two teams we had expected a close game but were disappointed by Richter taking an early lead which they maintained ending in a landslide victory 363-66. MVPs were Vicious Vege, Tuff Bikkies, and Jody Hare aka Madd Honour.

Solid performances came from those we expected, such as our Vege, Pave and Bubble O’Kill, while Swampies’ Terror, Justine Saunders (Justass - Team NZ skater), Michelle Rutherford (known from ARDL), Mel Deacon/Killer Doll, Danelle Mercer/Underage Rage and Wendy Lyons/Meds also made impressions whether expected or not.

Currently the Richter City All Stars are in Melbourne for the VRDL Invitational as part of the Ultimate Sport Expo (USE) 2015 to participate in WFTDA sanctioned ranking bouts. Their first bout was this morning, with another convincing win of 297 to 106 over Melbourne Northside. Tomorrow (Sunday 22 November) they take on Canberra at 11am NZD and Perth at 3pm, while Pave, Zam, Bubs and Jet are in the “Best of the visitors” team to play against VRDL skaters at 5pm. A live stream is available for these and all tournament derby bouts.

Next game: 28 November, Whenua Fatales vs Richter City Convicts 5pm, then Richter City Convicts vs Kapiti Coast Derby Collective 7pm

A Collection of Noises

People will faint; some people can’t handle this. A Collection of Noises is an original work in the style of Grand Guignol. Can you last the journey? - Writer/director Alexander Sparrow

I wish I’d read this comment before I saw A Collection of Noises last night. It was a brilliantly executed production, but I wasn’t mentally prepared – it is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

The programme described it as “a horrific new play” which “follows a young girl, Alice, as she attempts to navigate her troubled mind. It’s dark in there, and some thoughts just won’t leave her alone…”

I walked into the tiny studio theatre on the top floor of BATS, and instantly felt nervous about how small the audience was; how close the seats were to the stage.  So confined and exposed, there’s nowhere for me to hide. I sit in the back row, trying to get the fourth wall firmly back in place. I want to comfortably observe. Remotely. Anonymously. Safely.

The lights come up, and I’m sitting in Alice’s cramped attic; a darkroom with startling, large black-and-white portraits strung from wall to wall, pegged in place. In pride of place are two photographs of the faces of two young, beautiful blonde women.

Alice emerges from the back corner. Dark hair, dark clothes, and dark lipstick with a silver face.  She is literally the photographic negative of the two blonde divinities that she has set up on a pedestal to worship, to resent, and to aspire to. She’s a dark vortex of anxiety, obsession, and self-hate.

Alice tells me her grandfather has recently died. She tells me. I’m so physically close to her, and her voice is so soft, so conversational, so confiding. She’s not a character on a stage. She’s Alice. And she trusts me.

He’s left her a box. We go through the contents together. A jumble of random, unrelated objects: scraps of paper, an old book, a hat – an old-fashioned razor blade. She weighs it on her palm, threateningly, for a suspended moment, before throwing it back into the box.

The obsessive, psychotic, violent thoughts come streaming out of her, and I know exactly how this play is going to end. But it’s too late. I’m trapped. There’s nothing I can do to change what’s going to happen. I can only watch in horror.

I realise I’m sitting in the worst possible location in the audience. I’m so uncomfortable. It’s too raw being in such close quarters with Alice and her thoughts. The room is too tiny, I can’t breathe. This severely messed up girl is telling me her deranged thoughts, and I watch her spin out of control, and I can’t escape. If I try and leave, she will hurt me, just like she hurt the last person that tried to leave her.

To get out of the room, I’d have to walk through the entire audience and across the stage to get to the door. In my mind, I know that if I really, really wanted to, I could still leave. No one could force me to stay. I could leave. But I can’t. I’m too scared of her. I don’t want to draw attention to myself.

As Alice spirals further and further down her unhinged rabbit-hole, dragging me with her, she keeps talking to me. At first she asks my opinion causally, quickly filling the empty silence with “it’s okay, you don’t have to answer, you can just watch for now”.

But as the show goes on, she starts to get frustrated with me – I’m just sitting there, watching her. She’s shared her pain with me, shown me the depth of her rage, and I haven’t offered any solutions. I just watch. I feel powerless. Just as I can’t get up and walk out of the theatre, I can’t speak to her. I know that technically I could. But I can’t. I can only watch, paralysed. I feel so guilty. I am responsible for this. It’s partly my fault. I sat and watched, and did nothing.

I have never felt so uncomfortable, so involved, and so at fault, in a piece of theatre before. So at fault for just watching. I would highly recommend this show.

Performances: 3-7 November, 7:30pm
Tickets: $20

Nightmare

You'd be mistaken if you thought that a production company called Sweet Muffin would produce saccharine sweet theatre. Are there children? Yes! Most of the cast are aged 8-12, but that's as sweet as it gets.

Nightmare follows the story of 12 year Jimmy and his baby brother Joel. The boys have been removed from their abusive home to live with their unfamiliar Aunt Dala and the landlady Angie. Jimmy's days are gloomy, but Ole Lukoje, the Sandman, visits him at night and Jimmy can escape into dreams. But when the fantasy starts to seep into reality Ole grows too strong. 

There was so much subtext in this play that it struggled to become text. The first fifteen minutes were confusing and I would have remained lost had I not read about the play (above) beforehand.

The sandman was an excellent theatrical actor, the aunt a subtle, honest portrayal. The younger child/puppet could have benefited from the actor/puppeteer wearing black to indicate they were not a character. I'm not convinced such a large children's chorus was necessary if at all. More indication of isolation may have resulted from the young lead being the only child on stage.

What is attempted is good. We work through and escape our issues in our sleep but that can be a dangerous preoccupation. I should note I had nightmares after seeing this production.

Tickets: $15
Performances: October 29 & November 5, 6.30pm; October 30-31 & November 6-7, 8pm
Venue: Newtown Community & Cultural Centre

A Beautiful Hesitation / Demented Architecture

The current offerings at City Gallery have evocative titles designed to make you think.

The central piece of Demented Architecture - so central that you could easily miss that there is anything else - is The Cubic Structural Evolution Project. You've probably seem images of it already; a white lego world of beautiful and varied towers which you are invited to add to. Robots, hearts, love, names and towers lacking structural soundness indicate that many have taken up the invitation. It is lovely to see something being created, added to, rather than destroyed.
Demented Architecture closes 8 November

Fiona Pardington's photographic collection A Beautiful Hesitation, the largest exhibition of her work yet, is somewhat fragmented though grouped into similar themes. She doesn't shy away from the darker side; creating still lives with washed up items, taking pictures of extinct birds and human remains. Her images have a beautiful quality which makes them appear as if they were painted.
A Beautiful Hesitation closes 22 November

In My Very Bones

The WWI exhibition at Katherine Mansfield House and Garden was opened by the ANZAC of the year; Louise Nicholas, a courageous woman. The sun set behind the Tinakori Hill as the attendees; members of the Katherine Mansfield Birthplace Society, members of the literary community, sponsors and the Chief Librarian from the Alexander Turnbull Library which lend objects for the exhibition; gathered on the lawn, drinking wine and eating ANZAC biscuits, listening to the speeches. The exhibition, In My Very Bones, was curated by the House Director Emma Anderson with assistance from a student of Victoria University's Masters in Museum and Heritage Studies.

The exhibition traces the effects of WWI on the life and writings of Katherine Mansfield. She saw the war through the eyes of her younger brother, who was not the sort to die.  But his death launched her into writings about early life in New Zealand and impacted her marriage. The walls of the exhibition room, a vibrant blue, show the timeline of Katherine's life with her brother and how his death caused changes. Letters between the siblings are displayed in glass cases and copies are open along the wall for easy reading.

The exhibition is open until the 29th of January, admission is included in general admission to the House.

Animal Farm

There is always something uncomfortable about watching a human act as an animal. But what Animal Farm reminds us is that we are still animals despite the clothes we wear, the tools we use and the politics we run our lives with or that run our lives. Originally a commentary on communism this new production also raises questions not only about cruelty to animals but cruelty to other humans. It opens with an uncomfortably long monologue and there are strange pieces of narration scattered throughout. Actors tackle more than one animal part each, which can be difficult to follow despite excellent animal antics. I feel the actors have sacrificed their bodies for their art; there will be sore knees and backs amongst them.

Backyard Theatre has produced a multi media performance that doesn't detract from the actors performances.

Performances: 30 September - 10 October, 7:30pm (no show Sunday & Monday)
Tickets: $25
Venue: Gryphon theatre